CLOVIS HIGH SCHOOL
DR. ALBIN COVINGTON
Albin Covington, a minister and teacher, passed
away around Thanksgiving, 2017 from injuries
sustained in a car accident near his home
in Missouri.
He was a US NAVY veteran and was laid to rest
in the Veteran's Cemetary, Jacksonville, Mo.
Below is a piece written by me just after the sad
event.
---------------------
Albin lived up in Missouri for a number of
years.
years.
Back in 2011 when BE and I began MIL'S
PLACE, he wrote five or six nice pieces
about old Clovis, movies there, riding the
elevator up and down in the Clovis Hotel
on Saturdays for recreation, and adventures
experienced at our La Casita alma mater.
His family lived in Mertzon, Texas when he
was very young and his mother ran a little
lunchroom near the school there. I was
well-acquainted with Mertzon and wrote a
story about that little town, west of San
Angelo, partly because of Albin.
They moved to Clovis on "Pearl Harbor Day."
He wrote about it and I posted it, a year or two
ago.
After high school before he went to the USN
he was working on the railroad south of Artesia.
An accident occurred which injured his leg.
A doctor Russell was summoned from town and
came and treated him.
Later in Dr. Russell's office Albin noticed a photo
of Dora Russell and said to the old doc, "Is that
your wife?" "No,"replied Dr. Russell, "that is my
daughter, Dora---she is a fine Spanish teacher."
I regret now..that I have forgotten his Spanish
name...we all had one in Dora's classes.
I always sent Albin everything I wrote, and
he usually responded. He sent me several
sermons, but we didn't usually post sermons.
He had lost two wives and he hinted of his
loneliness.
He was especially fond of Art Snipes and liked
to say it was Art who befriended him when he
arrived in our hometown. He mentioned this
more than once to me.
A most interesting story he sent but was never
published, and I recite it from memory. I believe
this is correct: Albin joined the National Guard
after Navy days. He was once an army truck
driver and hauling a heavy load down the pass
through the Organ Mountains into Las Cruces…
it may be called the St. Augustine Pass, not
sure—and his brakes failed...there he was flying
downhill...I don't remember if he was able to
"gear down" or run into a field, or what. I once
wrote and asked him to repeat the story, but he
never did.
The Class of '51 would never have been complete
without him. We were lucky he walked with us.
A non-pretentious man with nothing to prove--
how refreshing.
Albin, we will miss you.
"Therefore never send to know for whom
the bell tolls...it tolls for thee."
.....John Donne,162O
-------------
MIL
4 December 17
You may remember, he gave the benediction
at the fiftieth CHS '51 Reunion in Clovis
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